Three Masters
by FeugoFox42
Summary: There is only so much distrust one person can take. When everyone, even her own team, doesn't believe her pleas after the incident with Mercury, Yang must face the truth. Maybe she really is the monster everyone paints her as. Maybe she really has become who Blake fears her to be. BumbleBY Multi Chapter Story. [Written in collaboration with Clementine Davidson]
1. Prologue - Part I: Yang

**FeugoFox42**

So, normally this would be where I would put **_Chapter Beta - {insert person's name here}_** _,_ and say how nice it is to have them being a Beta for my story.

"Normally" being the operative word.

But, after the first draft went across to my beta, I got _so many_ edits that it became a joint effort to improve it. And boy, did it get improved.

So, as it says in the summary, it's with great pleasure that I can say that this story is written in joint collaboration with my writing partner, **Clementine Davidson!** I'm so stoked to be working with her, she is so amazing at what she does. She's even got her own P*treon, so it shows how much she cares about what she does and how much she loves it. At the very least, give her stories a read – her current ongoing one is a Bumblebee story, ' **Fans and Girlfriends** ', and I've got to say, I'm loving it; at most, if you're feeling generous, follow her and support her on P*treon. All she asks is $1 or $2, no more.

With the formalities and shameless plugs out of the way, I'll hand you over to the woman of the hour herself!

* * *

 **Clementine Davidson**

 **Fangirls and Fanboys, welcome!**

 **If you came here from** ** _my own_** **story, Fans and Girlfriends, then I'd like to thank you for reading** ** _that_** **story. So… thanks a bunch, really means a lot to me ^^**

 **Me and FeugoFox42 here are excited to give you the story we've been working our butts off on for** ** _a while._**

 **Like Fox has mentioned, my role in this story originally is supposed to be nothing more than a "beta", but, being the nice person that he is, he allows me to write off a few words of my own. Fast forward after a few days… and I'm actively working alongside him. Yay! Now we're partners in writing!**

 **Suffice to say, we're really excited to show you this story. I know** ** _I_** **am. We have** ** _lots_** **of fun writing this story, and we hope you guys will have loads of fun reading our story too!**

 **So, in conclusion…**

 **WELCOME TO THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS "** **THREE MASTERS** **"!**

 **Hooo, boy. This will be one** ** _heck_** **of a ride.**

* * *

 _Cover Image: Created by me. It's mine. All mine!_ _ **NO TOUCHY!**_

* * *

"But he _attacked_ me!" Yang protested.

"Video footage and millions of viewers say otherwise," General Ironwood replied with a cool head, ultimately unconvinced by the weak reasoning the blonde brawler had given him in defence of her actions.

Weiss gestured towards her teammate, informing the Atlas Headmaster, "but Yang would never do that!" earning a "Yeah!" from her partner and Yang's sister in response. But all Blake could do was remain silent and unmoving throughout the whole ordeal, and all Yang could do was sigh.

"You all seem like good students," the General admitted as he paced slightly, "and the staff here at Beacon are fully aware that you would never lash out the way you did... under normal circumstances." The entire team looked despondent and the veteran Huntsman's wording, and what he said only made it worse for them. "What I believe, and hope this to be, is nothing more than the result of stress and adrenaline. When you're out on the battlefield, your judgment can become clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that simply aren't there. Even after the fight is past…"

"But I wasn't-"

"That's ENOUGH!" When the room fell silent at his stern outburst, he continued on. "The sad truth is, whether it was an accident or an assault, it doesn't matter. The world saw you attack an innocent student. They've already drawn their own conclusions. And it's my job to inform you that... you are disqualified."

Yang's shock at the news turned into miserable understanding as her lilac eyes, once full of joy and life, faded to a much more washed out shade as they looked to the ground, with Ironwood leaving the room.

"You guys believe me," she eventually asked. "Right?"

"Duh!" came Ruby's reply.

Weiss added to that, stating that "you're hot headed, but not ruthless."

But when Yang realised one of their number hadn't spoken, she uttered that teammate's name, hoping it was for simple reasons like zoning out that she wasn't contributing to the conversation and not… anything else. "Blake?" Turning her head to see that Blake's gaze was fixed on the brawler certainly took her by surprise, piercing amber eyes staring intensely at her. The Faunus turned her head away from the brawler after a long moment of unblinking scrutiny, earning a shocked look between Ruby and Weiss.

"I want to believe you…"

"Huh!?"  
"What's that supposed to mean?"

Hearing her partner's words, how easily they came to her, Yang's eyes widened, tears forming instantly. "Blake?" she croaked out, a couple of tears falling from the lack of trust her partner had in her.

Ever since Initiation, Yang had sought to find the best in all of her teammates. It helped that she had a fifteen, nearly sixteen, year head start with her team leader also being her sister. Weiss was tough to crack, and even though to this day they weren't on the greatest of terms, they certainly had come a long way from the first night they knew each other, arguing way into the night.

They were at it for so long that the pair of them almost got a detention on their first day for not letting the others sleep. The only reason they stopped was because Weiss didn't want to start the year with such a poor representation of herself. As the team learnt later that semester, the standards set by her father she had to keep up to stay at Beacon were ridiculously high, and with that came a much more lenient outlook on Weiss' behaviour.

And then there was Blake.

The enigma wrapped in a mystery, all tied off with a bow. For once, in a literal sense.

She was always so mysterious when they first met. During Initiation, she was hiding from everyone and _chose_ to show herself and solidify her partner for four years (everyone may underestimate her based on her figure and hair colour, but it was pretty obvious to Yang that Blake chose her, rather than coming across one another through happenstance like nearly all the other pairings in their own and previous years.)

And when she opened up, hoo boy. So much passion underneath the surface. So much drive to do what is right. It was with that passion and drive that she and Yang got closer.

Sure, as partners they were naturally paired up with one another on many different things. But it was because of that constant pairing up that they truly got closer than many others did, especially in such a short time. Yang had never felt happier than the days where both she and Blake had done the tasks at hand, then slipped away from their teammates and just had a day to themselves.

They had grown to appreciate one another's company, sometimes even to the point of craving it. And no time more than when they were feeling down, or when something was weighing on their minds. They would go a quiet corner of the library, or an empty classroom, or - best of all - to their secret place; a lone flower garden on the Beacon grounds, hidden in the shadow of the larger buildings on the Academy grounds, away from everybody else.

No one could hear them, they'd be completely isolated from the goings on around them. And they'd cut loose. They spill everything on their mind at that moment - good, bad, inappropriate, hilarious, embarrassing, anything and everything.

They grew close. They shared secrets and feelings with one another.

They trusted each other with their deepest, darkest secrets. The ones that shaped them into who they are as people.

And so here Blake was, taking something that should have been so easy to side with her, and she was hesitating on her choice.

To say Yang felt broken would be accurate, but only to a certain degree. The part of her left unbroken was frustrated, even angry, at how easily Blake had said that.

"How can you say something like that?" Weiss protested. "Yang would never lie to us!"

Blake glanced at Weiss, seemingly passing a tiny amount of judgement on the petite Heiress before beginning her explanation. "I had someone very dear to me change." Ironically - or not, depending on your stance on the matter - Yang felt the same way about Blake at this very moment. "It wasn't in an instant, it was gradual - little choices that began to pile up."

' _What, like you not believing me?_ ' came Yang's internal thoughts, down heartened by the accusation sent her way.

"He told me not to worry."

' _Yeah, and so did you, Blake,_ ' the blonde thought to herself again, fists gripping her bed cover now.

"At first they were accidents, then it was self-defence."

' _And so was this!_ ' Yang practically shouted at her in her head.

"Before long, even I began to think he was right." Tears fell down the blonde's face freely now, not stopped by any emotional barriers. "This is all just... very familiar. Bu-"

"Get out."

With those two little words, the entire atmosphere changed in the Team RWBY dorm room.

Ruby saw it first, having been the only one to experience something like this before. She started cowering in fear, bringing her exceptionally un-normal knees up to her chest and wrapping herself up in her cloak for protection, just like many years ago. And just like her mom did when she was still around.

It was Summer's way of promising that, when the cloak was around her, Ruby would be safe, as if her mother was giving her a warm, loving hug.

She could already feel the anger seeping through Yang. She had never seen her big sister _this_ angry before. At least, not at a person, and not for any reason other than touching or cutting her hair - accidentally or intentionally. And, despite being both a team leader and a future Huntress… Ruby was _terrified_ of her right now.

Weiss hadn't seen Yang be that harsh and blunt, but she had certainly seen that. It was one of the many reasons that acted against Weiss' wish to study under the eye of anyone willing to be paid to do so by Weiss' father.

At this point in her life, she knew what Jacques could be like under the right (or, I guess wrong?) circumstances, and she wouldn't have been surprised if suddenly a new teacher came in at Atlas who looked far more like a businesswoman than a lecturer - mostly because they would have been and were sent with express instructions to monitor Weiss.

But Blake reacted in a far different way to the others.

Her Faunus hearing helped her hear the small, near inaudible gasp coming from Ruby. She noticed the lean away from Yang by Weiss, however small it may have been. But she did nothing of the sorts.

"What?" she muttered, still trying to process what Yang had told her. At least, she assumed it was directed at her.

"Get out of here, Blake." Yang's head snapped up, revealing not only red eyes from crying, but crimson irises from rage. "Now!"

"Yang, what has gotten into you?" The blonde ignored the call of confusion from Weiss, missing the trace of panic in her voice and instead glaring at her partner.

"Some partner you are, Belladonna. Some _friend_." She spat the last word out, disgusted in that moment in time at referring to the woman in front of her as such. "You were supposed to be there for me. Be by my side through thick and thin, Blake. Yet here you are, bailing at the first sign I did something remotely off."

"Yang, I was trying to say tha-"

"No!" the girl said, rising to her full height and taking a quick yet deliberate step forward. Ruby practically yelped in fear, latching onto her partner like a terrified child. And while Weiss wasn't normally a huge fan of personal space being invaded, given the situation they were all in, she was willing to let it slide.

Seeing Yang go from 0 to 100 in battle could be a spectacle.

Seeing Yang go from 0 to 100 against one of her own team, and Weiss finally realised why she was such a force to be reckoned with.

"How could you? I love you, Blake. You know damn well that I do. And I thought you loved me too. And yet here you are comparing me to your past, comparing me with someone who drove you away from your old life! I need you, Blake! Damn it, I need you now more than ever! Why aren't you here for me?! Why can't you _ever_ be there for me when I need you the most?!"

Blake didn't answer. Not that she didn't want to, but because she felt like there was nothing to say. Sure, the offhanded way Yang dropped that they were in a relationship to their teammates was irksome to her - and judging by their faces, very surprising to Ruby and Weiss - but she felt more about how Yang spoke about her actions.

'Why can't you ever be there for me…?' Blake _had_ been there, on multiple occasions. After the Breach, Yang confided in Blake that she was beaten to near death by the small girl with the umbrella from when they fought the Paladin Mech, and that she was pretty sure she was saved by her mother. Did that mean nothing to her? It was heart-breaking to think that Yang would forget that, just so that _she_ was painted in the good light, and that Blake was painted in the negative. And so, Blake remained silent, not wanting to escalate things further.

That silence said it all for Yang.

"That's what I thought. You're just like the rest of them." The real anger wasn't there anymore, replaced instead with a sad acceptance of the bleak truth. Blake felt it too.

Yang had trusted her with the knowledge of her birth mom's departure from her life when she was still a baby, and the time Ruby's mom died when they were both much younger and she had to take over looking after her sister when her dad fell into a depression. Yang was comparing Blake at this exact moment with people throughout her life that just left her. It was a harsh comparison, but Blake figured Yang couldn't be reasoned with right now, and so the comparison would have to stick.

"Just leave me alone. All of you." Blake was out of the door faster than anyone, brief footsteps clicking along the floor left at the end of the corridor. Anyone with Faunus hearing would have heard the onyx haired beauty starting to cry the moment she rounded that corner, the guilt of it all finally hitting her. Weiss and Ruby took a little longer leaving, hoping that Yang just said that to see if people would go, or stay with her. "Please."

So many thoughts were rushing around in Yang's head at that moment. The fact she ruined Team RWBY's chances at a shot at the Vytal Tournament trophy single handed lingered in her mind. As did the fact that her actions will have negative ramifications for her and the team once the rest of the Academies had gone home - she was thinking at least a week's worth of Goodwitch detentions for the team, more for her.

But downscaling, she thought about how everyone was going to feel about her.

Team JNPR might distance themselves from Team RWBY completely, all because they wouldn't want to be near Yang. Even Nora, her Weight Training Buddy, would find someone else. It didn't matter if they wanted to be with her; she didn't want to be with them. Not right now. Not when she was like… _this._

Weiss would return to being harsh and uncaring towards Yang, just as she was at the start of the year. Over time, she used the term "brute" for Yang in jest, or with endearment. Now, it had to be used in a literal sense again. Because of what she did.

Ruby, her own sister, would no longer look up to her. Sure, in the past, she'd disapprove of things Yang had done, like stealing cookies from the cookie jar, or lying to her about where she had been going on those late nights. But now, it could be the turning point in their relationship where Yang would be replaced as Ruby's role model. _Because of what she did._

And speaking of relationships: her own girlfriend. Would they even be a thing now? With the way they acted to one another, maybe not. Could they ever mend themselves after this? _'Will there still be an '_ _ **us**_ _'?'_

Ruby's arm raised to go and comfort her sister, but Weiss stopped it. "Come on Ruby. Let's go find our other teammate before she goes and does something stupid. _Again._ " Weiss moved out of the room, waiting just outside of the door for Ruby.

Eventually, Ruby got up and trudged her way over to the door. "I love you Yang," she said as she looked back at her sister.

"…" With no reply from her sister, Ruby slowly shut the door with a dejected look on her innocent face, leaving the broken blonde bruiser to stew in her own emotions for as long as she needed.

Everything had changed. Not for the better.

And it was all because of what **she** did.

"... I'm such a fool."

* * *

 **FeugoFox42**

Well, there we are. First part of the prologue done. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we did writing it. If it didn't catch your attention, we are sorry, but thanks for reading this far. If it did, see you in the next part of the prologue.

* * *

 **Clementine Davidson**

 **I'll have to admit, for a first impression, this… could've been… different.**

 **I know this isn't much, but we wanted the first chapter to** ** _really_** **emphasize what will eventually be the one of the main plot of the story. We also didn't want to overwhelm you guys with too many information in just** ** _one_** **chapter, we want to take this slowly to really** ** _build_** **the story.**

 **For now, this is all we can offer you. At first glance, nothing really seems important had happened, but, the slight difference in both Blake and Yang's actions and thoughts here will play a big role in what** ** _will_** **happen in the future.**

 **Especially Yang with her thoughts and actions.**

* * *

 **FeugoFox42**

As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated.

* * *

 **Clementine Davidson**

 **Thanks for reading our story! We really thank you for doing this! We promise the next chapter will be even better than this!**

 **But, most importantly…**

 **Bananas.**


	2. Prologue - Part II: Blake

**Clementine Davidson**

 **Hey, can't believe we've got this much attention in only one chapter. Thanks, everyone! You're all the best!**

 **This part of the prologue has a very different feel compared to the first one. It'll explore more of The Fall - or, our version of it, at least.**

 **"Hey," you might be asking. "Why are you splitting up the prologue into parts? And why is the prologue so long? And how many parts are there in the prologue?!"**

 **Well, you see. The reason why the prologue is split into parts is because… well… it's too damn long to be posted in a single chapter. The reason why the prologue is long in the first place is because it's necessary for us to show our AU and what's so different about it from the original RWBY universe. Basic rules (how auras work, characters' semblances, etc.) will stay the same, but many things is entirely different in this AU.**

 **As for the last question… four parts. In total, the prologue is split into four parts.**

* * *

 **FeugoFox42**

Clementine isn't kidding with the attention: 16 favourites and 28 followers from just the first chapter alone. Holy balls, y'all are so good! I don't know whether that's because of the pairings (likely), because you love my writing (highly unlikely), or for your love of Clementine's writing (most likely, let's be honest), but it means so much to us that you're reading this.

And c'mon - four parts, four members of RWBY… in all fairness, it's a weak reason and (spoilers) it won't focus on all four members, but that's how the cookie crumbled.

* * *

 **Clementine Davidson**

 **So… yeah, enjoy!**

* * *

Beacon was secure once more. After the second leg of the Quarter Finals was cut short at Penny's dismemberment, the broadcast that rang across the CCT Network from the Black Queen Group gave way to a large wave of Grimm attacking the stadium and the surrounding area. Many of the Huntsmen (in Training or fully qualified) jumped in immediately to fend off the wave of darkness that descended upon the people of Vale. Even Penny aided in the battle, having not been completely destroyed in her fight against Pyrrha, but rather had her left arm ripped from her body.

Even though she wasn't in the best of places mentally, Pyrrha was a Four Time Champion at the Mistral Regional Tournament. It had already been embedded in her from such an early age; the instinct to fight and win.

She _knew_ something was off when her own weapons started bending in her vision without her willing them to. And to top it off, winning by a landslide was what everyone was expecting. Frankly, having someone challenge her like this was new and exciting, as much as the warrior hated to admit it.

But when she forced Penny's eight swords away from her with her semblance, Pyrrha wasn't expecting or even aiming to rip Penny's arms off, and she especially wasn't expecting such a nonchalant response from the robot girl. It all made perfect sense to the Amazonian girl now. Penny always had such odd, robotic mannerisms. It was because she _was_ a robot.

She did her best to fix Penny, but she wasn't exactly an expert on wires or technologies, much less an expert on robots - or was it 'cyborg'? It also… disturbed her how nonchalant the girl was acting in spite of getting her arm ripped off. The girl was armless, yet not out of the fight. She also told Pyrrha that she thinks Pyrrha won the battle, which was… nice of her to say.

There was shock in the audience, but not full blown terror, even at the sight of a girl's arm being severed. Penny's response was almost one of disappointment at the fact she'd lost a body part, even muttering "not again" to herself at the sight, which put a few people's minds at ease. And both of those factors greatly decreased the wave of Grimm that attacked everyone from what it _could_ have been.

Blake did her best to help where she could. As a Trainee Huntress, it was her duty to protect the people during this time. And having been secluded in the library when the announcement came, Blake was on the front line when the Grimm started showing up. But in that time, she couldn't help but think about earlier. How Yang had basically snapped at her, how she had accused her of being like both of her moms in the past. She knew Yang was hurting, but her words hurt her just as much as her silence hurt Yang.

And suddenly, it seemed like the Gods were listening to her and taking pity, because catharsis for all the pent up anger and frustration had a _perfect_ outlet in the form of a Grimm invasion.

Weiss and Ruby eventually found Blake again wondering back into the main courtyard at Beacon after the fighting had all but ceased, the cat girl far more at ease with her emotions after the waves of Grimm she tore down single handedly. The few Grimm that reacted to the crowd of the Vytal Tournament when Yang punched Mercury's leg were dispatched before the border, and the ones that did make it to the grounds of Beacon were killed before they could do much damage.

"Are you two okay?" Blake asked, running in to greet her two teammates with a hug.

"Considering the circumstances, I think we're in pretty good shape," came the reply from an aching but still functioning Weiss.

"None of the robots hurt you?" she asked again, already scanning her teammates with vigilant eyes, searching for any signs of injuries. She didn't know whether or not they were presumed dangerous, but she didn't want to take any chances and let her guard loose. Not with what had happened.

"Nope!" came Ruby's overly cheery reply. Blake could see how much she was forcing that smile; reality had reared its ugly head and it had reared it hard, to the point where even seasoned Huntsmen were uncertain of the outcome.

Ruby couldn't possibly remain that positive through it all, unless Blake was being really cynical, and Ruby could in fact maintain such a high level of positivity, in which case Blake would need to grill Ruby as to on how Remnant she could stay that chipper through the horror of the last 40 minutes. "I sniped the ones I saw first, cut down the ones that got too close."

"And even then, we didn't have much to do," Weiss added with a flick of her hair. Blake saw through that too. Weiss could see how all of the military tech was Atlas based, and there was a small hint of guilt in her eyes that part of the destruction around them came from Atlas, just as Blake thought with the White Fang, however small those numbers were. "What about you? When you ran off we were worried, but when the Grimm started attacking, neither Ruby or I had the time to contact you."

"I managed," came the blunt answer, skirting away from any potential follow up questions by outright not inviting them in and cutting that conversation off there.

"I don't get it," came the irritated voice of Roman Torchwick who, after being released from his cell on the Atlas ship, made his way down to ground level to escape the many security robots that were chasing him and Neo on the ship, only to be apprehended by more security robots on the ground, "you're just a bunch of _kids!_ How could _you_ beat _us?_ "

"Uh… you attacked us," Ruby pointed out.

"Yes, that was the poi-"

"On our turf," she added.

"Yes. That. Was. The-"

"Which is a school for _Huntsmen._ "

"Okay, yeah, that bits a li-"

"Consisting not only of Team RWBY, but four years' worth of students." Roman sighed at the logical onslaught from Ruby, either blissfully unaware or deliberately antagonising the master Conman with her reasoning. "Currently hosting the Vytal Tournament, where there are other Huntsmen schools here."

"Okay Red, I get it."

"Each with at least two years' worth of students in attendance."

"Red, that's enough. Your point it ma-"

"And the teachers too, who are all ex-Huntsmen or Huntresses and are _far_ more skilled than us kids."

"Get me outta here please," the criminal begged of the Atlas soldiers holding him there, small smirks on their faces that clearly told him 'no'.

"And," Ruby mentioned, breaking only slightly beforehand because she initially forgot about them, but was reminded when she glanced off to one side and spotted a metallic corpse being transported away, "the Atlas Military and their cool robot soldiers."

"All of whom," Weiss added from her own knowledge of the project prior to attending Beacon, "have their own systems made to counteract any malware entered into them, meaning any sort of hostile takeover of their OS results in either it being purged within a few minutes or outright destroying the machine and the malware with it."

"Really," Ruby admitted, "you couldn't have picked a worse time to attack this place. No offense." She gave a nonchalant shrug. The continued insult to the plan he agreed to be part of made the conman scream in agony.

"And in all seriousness, how did you think this would play out?" Weiss asked the cigar smoking criminal, who remained silent from sheer embarrassment. "How could you plan something like this and expect it to go off effortlessly? Beacon is one of the four Huntsmen Academies of Remnant, each having their own level of security and countermeasures for people like _you_." She pointed her finger, her face marred with disgust. "What, did you expect Beacon to fall just because some Grimm and a few White Fang members tried to invade?" She was borderline shouting at this point. Blake cringed from the volume… and from the wrath of the infamous Ice Queen. "This is a school for Huntsmen and Huntresses, for Dust's sake! Are you actually _that_ dense?!"

"Alright, that's enough." As one of the soldiers told the other to move on, Blake noted that even he looked thrown-off by the heiress'... _explosion._ "You've made your point kids, and we've had our fun."

As Roman was finally taken away, the man muttering praise to the men releasing him from that personal hell of being grilled by "a gothic 15 year old with a scythe" and her "fair haired snob friend", Blake turned to Weiss in concern. "You okay there Weiss?"

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well," her Faunus mentioned, "you did kind of explode at him."

"I…" in the months since Beacon started, Weiss did acknowledge her standoffish nature and worked at bettering herself from who she was. Reflecting, she saw that Blake had a point. "I suppose you are correct. It was a bit explosive, wasn't it?"

Something clicked in the team leader's mind on hearing Weiss say that. "Wait. Where's Yang in all this?"

"Yang?" Weiss asked. "You're right. I would have expected her to join us with all the fighting. But I didn't see her once during the whole ordeal." The three girls searched around the courtyard from their positions on the ground, not finding any luck. Using her glyphs, Weiss even made a few steps so that RWB_ could search from a marginally higher vantage point.

Ruby turned to her friends, determination in her eyes. "Weiss, Blake, split up. Beacon is a large place, but we'll find her. I'll head back to the dorm and make my way back here. Weiss, search left of us. Blake, do the only other thing." With that, Ruby was replaced by a sea of red rose petals and a strong gust of wind.

"'Do the only other thing'? That's not very specific," the Faunus admitted as Weiss lowered them to the ground, trying not to sound overly emotional about going to search for Yang, but also not to sound monotonous in her delivery. Basically, she was trying to sound as far from Blake as she could whilst still staying true to Blake. It was a very hard task, she deduced. Yang was still a sore subject in her mind, and where part of her wanted to let Yang find her own way back, the other part knew that she would feel annoyed at herself if she didn't. Just because they had a disagreement doesn't exclude her from worrying about her wellbeing and safety, especially as her girlfriend. "Where should I start?"

"I'm not so sure," Weiss admitted. "But you're her _girlfriend_ , a fact I can now quite easily see adds up on further inspection," she observed sarcastically, "surely in _all the time_ you've been spending together, there were places you would frequent that she might go to when things got bad for her."

"Okay, _please_ don't go shouting that out to everyone."

"Embarrassed?" Weiss' voice was monotone, but Blake clearly understood the teasing that was layered underneath.

"No!" came the all too speedy reply, one that made the ears atop Blake's head flatten underneath her bow. "No, it's just… we weren't ready to say anything yet."

"It's fine, your secret is safe with me."

"And Ruby?"

The heiress thought about her response before admitting, "...your secret is... with Ruby." Weiss mockingly placed a hand on Blake's shoulder, finishing her sentence with, "I wish you all the best keeping _that_ under wraps," a gesture and comment that brought a small giggle to both girls' lips.

"But, in retrospect, I wouldn't exactly want the media hearing about our relationship. I'd be hounded just as much as she would be, and I think we could both do with none of that."

"That's understandable, I guess," she said, mumbling the last part. She never got the luxury of shying away from the media spotlight, particularly with her family's status in life. "Okay, we do actually need to go and search for Yang," Weiss admitted.

Blake felt the pang in her chest when Weiss said her name. She was already beginning to feel the guilt of what she had said earlier, and the consequences of it were starting to weigh on her shoulders. "Why?" she muttered to herself in response to her own stupidity.

"Excuse me?"

Amber eyes darted to the Heiress next to her, impatient blue staring and waiting for an answer. "Why would we need to?" Blake tried to defend. She wasn't exactly expecting Weiss to have heard her. "Ruby's going after her. She'll find her."

"Oh please," she scoffed, " _that_ is your reasoning for not wanting to go look? Pathetic excuse, if you ask me." Weiss was right, and Blake knew it; there really was no excuse for not looking for Yang. She was just trying to find ways of not hurting herself anymore. "When you ran away, did Ruby find _you?_ "

"No," Blake admitted.

"And why is that?"

The Faunus glared at her teammate, frustrated at the constant questioning sent her way. "I don't need you to be my therapist, Weiss!" Unimpressed, Weiss raised an eyebrow at the response. Blake broke first, sighing before stating that, "she didn't find me because she didn't know where to look."

"And she will know where to look with Yang?" she replied, playing the Grimm advocate in the scenario.

"Because they are sisters, Weiss. It's what they do."

"Yes, I _know_ they're sisters, Blake," scoffed the heiress as she rolled her eyes. "You don't have to remind me how close they are." Weiss released a long sigh, and her mask of indifference crumbled a little; it was obvious now how much of this - how much of _everything that had happened_ \- took its toll on her. A pang of empathy shot through Blake. "Yang is… an important aspect in Ruby's life." Understatement of the year. "And I get the feeling Yang would never want her 'precious little sister' to see her like… well, a wreck," she bluntly put it with a tinge of awkwardness. "Yang would never want to show Ruby the more… human side of her. That dolt would never know where Yang would go. The only one who _would_ know is someone she trusts, someone who she trusts more than any member of our team, someone special to her." Weiss paused for a moment. Her words slowly sunk into Blake's mind, making her realize what the heiress was trying to tell her. "There's only one person who would know where to look for her, Blake."

Weiss' words set something off inside Blake's head, and she turned towards the school once more. Stopping herself from reprimanding the secret Faunus for fleeing, Weiss let a small smirk cross her face as she saw Blake take off with a purpose.

She was going to find Yang, and apologise to her for what she had done and what she didn't say.

* * *

 **FeugoFox42**

By now, hopefully you can see what sort of AU this story is taking place in. And we're not even done yet! For those of you who came from Clementine's story ' **Fans and Girlfriends** ' - first of all welcome - you should realise that there was still one part of the extended preview that hasn't cropped up yet.

In the words of Samuel L. Jackson; "Hold on to your butts", 'cause it's coming… next time.

* * *

 **Clementine Davidson**

 **So, that's that. Yay.**

 **The next chapter will solely focus on Yang's character, AKA, the character who I love to write most. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like to write all the characters, but it's always been easy and more fun for me to write in her POV than in other's.**

 **It will have lots of angst, heartbreak, and angst. Oh, did I mention there will be heartbreak?**

 **Heh… Hehehe…**

 **HAHAHAHA! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR HEARTS BREAKING!**

* * *

 **FeugoFox42**

...um…

As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated

* * *

 **Clementine Davidson**

 **Thanks for reading our story, guys! Have a wonderful day! And lastly, bananas!**


	3. Prologue - Part III: Yang

Chaos. Chaos everywhere. Screams of rage. Cries of fear. Cries of _pain._

Noise.

So much noise.

Too much _noise._

Too much **everything.**

' _Dammit,_ ' thought Yang. ' _It wasn't supposed to be like this!_ ' The reason why she wanted to be a Huntress was because of the thrill of the unknown, but this… this wasn't thrilling. This wasn't what she wanted. Not this sickening terror. Not this… meaningless violence. Not what was _happening._

She never wanted this…

Someone aimed a punch at her. She didn't have time to look for a Grimm mask - to consider if it was just a huntsman who thought _she_ was the enemy. She reacted accordingly; let the dude _try_ to punch the shit out of her before punching the shit out of him.

She was dishevelled. Almost out of Aura. Shell-shocked. Exhausted. Terrified.

In short; she felt like shit.

Yet she, somehow, was able to put her feelings aside and focus on what was around her.

Yang didn't think. She just acted.

She remembered her father and Uncle Qrow once explaining that once a hunter or huntress was at its peak, there was no more meaningless thoughts to hold them back… or something. Either way, it didn't matter what they say. Not _now._

She saw a claw from the corner of her vision. She shot it.

She saw a large figure of something black and red and growling, so she punched it until it stopped growling.

She saw a person aiming their gun at her. She jumped towards that person with the aid of her weapon and _dealt_ with that person.

The more time passed, the more... clouded everything became. It was like… the world was static. Everything around her was white noise. Like she herself was white noise.

She didn't think. She didn't feel.

She _acted._

After who knew how long, even her instincts were a jumbled mess.

Someone, aiming a fist towards her. Dodge. Uppercut him, it sent him flying away. Another one, with a sword. A power-filled jab. Another one. Overcut. Blocked a punch. Kicked him in the shins. Another one. Took a step back, then cross him.

Punch. Punch. Punch again. Block. Kick. Dodge. Punch. Kick. Kick. Punch-

"AH!"

Her head snapped towards the scream. A woman, unarmed, scared, holding a boy - her child, maybe. In front of her, a Beowolf.

She reacted like what any normal huntress would do.

In a blur of motions - mostly growls and punches - the Beowolf had turned into a smoke, before it was no more.

Yang looked behind her. The woman and child was there - the former held the boy with tears already falling from her eyes while the latter looked horrified. They were frozen in place and shaking tremendously - obviously because of all the Grimm - both the creatures and those who wore masks. Once she realized they were unharmed, she heaved a sigh. Thank Dust. They were okay. She wasn't too late.

She took a step forward, "Ma'am, you-"

The woman released a cry of fear, gripping the boy's shoulders tighter, taking a large step back.

"P-please!" croaked the terrified woman. "Don't hurt us!"

"Wha-?" _'Why are they avoiding **me**?'_

Yang wanted to move towards her, to tell the woman that hurting her was the _last_ thing she'd ever wanted to do, but the look on the woman's eyes stopped her in her tracks…

And the look on the boy's face… It was a look Yang had seen before - one from back when she was a child. Vague images popped in her head - her walking in the depths of the wood, dragging a wagon where Little Ruby slept in… her looking at those lifeless red eyes in the picture… her hearing a shrill scream of terror… her turning around and seeing that face…

It was the same face the boy was giving her now.

It was the face of a child who was looking at a monster they were terrified of.

It was the same face. It was the _exact same face._

"Miss Xiao Long!"

Her eyes widened. She turned around.

There were her teachers. Prof- _Doctor_ Oobleck and Professor Port. The former, being of a much larger stature, was holding the injured Mercury Black and supporting his weight on his shoulder, who was looking at her with a twisted, amused smirk. The latter teacher was…

He was pointing his weapon at her. And on further inspection, Oobleck's hand hovered above his own, ready to draw.

Everything about this…they were treating her...

... as if she was a **criminal.**

Yang's heart roared with too many emotions to describe. Yet at the same time, there was this numbing coldness that started to envelop her body.

She didn't understand. She _couldn't_ understand.

They were the professors. Her teachers. They knew her, why were they looking at her like that?

"Stand down," ordered Professor Port.

"... Professor…" She didn't know what to say. She just knew that… she didn't them to treat her this way.

"Please, Miss Xiao Long, do not do anything that would harm innocents further," said Oobleck.

Harm innocents further… Was that what they thought she'd done?

Was that what they thought she was _doing_ right now?

She faintly heard the sound of running footsteps behind her. It must be the woman and the child. They ran away. They ran away from her. Because they thought she was someone to be afraid of when she clearly was _not._

' _At least some good came of this,_ ' she thought twistedly. It was always better for the civilian to escape the battlefield. Always. Even if they did it out of fear of her.

She locked eyes with Mercury.

He was looking at her just like everyone else had been looking at her.

Mercury was… the boy she'd injured - no. _He_ attacked _her_ , and she reacted accordingly. She knew what she saw. That was real.

"There's not going to be a next time, Blondie."

That was real. She knew it.

He was injured. And he was with her teachers, meaning they must've found him and decided to help him escape.

Her eyes travelled down… He put all of his weight on his right leg-

… What?

His right leg?

But… But…

 _But that was the leg she'd injured._

She looked up at him again, a growing bile inside her forming.

 _And where was his team?_

She locked eyes with his void of black.

All traces of fear he had on his face was gone, replaced by something… far grimmer.

Her eyes widened.

He made a "Tsk" sound.

Suddenly, Mercury jumped away, kicking Oobleck's stomach with such force that he doubled over in what must be agonizing pain after he stumbled away from the sudden lack of support on his left hand side. When Port registered his colleague's grunt of pain and tried to aim his gun at the attacker, the boy swiftly moved and gave the old man a kick.

Both of them were out.

Mercury moved to run away. _'Oh, fuck no!'_

Yang raised Ember Celica. "Don't. Move. A muscle." She wasn't asking. Hell, she wasn't even telling. She was _threatening._

The boy in front of her - the boy she distinctly remembered attacking her with a flying kick that she appropriately reacted to - he… he was supposed to be injured. He was supposed to be outright _debilitated_.

She… She injured him out of self-defence. She knew she did it. Yet everyone thought otherwise. Everyone thought she just… attacked him for no valid reason - as if she was someone hungry for the pain of others. Mercury… He should _not_ be that mobile after sustaining such an injury. Scratch that, he should not be mobile, period. Something was very off here.

And she knew that something had to do with him.

The boy had his back on her. But she could see him slowly turning around - wanting to face her.

"I said don't move!" she shouted. Her throat ached from her screaming. Her hands were trembling out of pure fury.

He was to blame for _this._

He was to blame for what happened to her.

He was to blame.

He was the guilty one.

He was guilty.

Not her.

Never her.

It was him.

It had always been him.

Mercury was facing her. He put his arms in his pockets and slouched ever-so-slightly.

He looked so relaxed. So calm. He was acting as if he hadn't done anything wrong.

Yet his eyes… His eyes proved of his guilt.

Slowly, a smug grin marred his face. "Or what?" he asked with his ever-present taunting tone. "You're gonna break my leg again?" He then made a show of putting his hand on his chin and stroked it while he looked up in thought. "Or maybe you'll cut off my arm, this time."

With a battle cry, she fired her weapon. He stood there, eyebrow raised.

Her arm was raised up to the sky.

As much as she wanted to, she knew beating him up - or worse, killing the bastard - wasn't going to end good. Not for her. She couldn't risk anyone seeing her attacking the same student she'd 'injured' before.

Plus, she needed him.

"... Nice aim."

Her head snapped up at him.

His face screamed the definition of uninterested, which boiled her blood even more.

"You…" For a moment, Yang didn't even recognize her own voice. It was far from her usual carefree, cheerful voice that was so full of life. Her voice now… It sounded so lifeless. So unlike her… She pressed on. "This is all your fault…"

"Oh no," he mocked in a childish voice. "Are you gonna ground me? For what? Faking my injury?"

"FOR FRAMING ME, DAMMIT!"

There was silence for a while. Not silence on a literal term, but… neither of them spoke a word. For a while, all that could be heard was the sound of the familiar chaos. For a while, all that made a noise were Grimm who wanted death, the few White Fang on Beacon grounds who lusted death, the Huntsmen who stopped death, and innocents who tried their damn best to avoid death.

Yang didn't even realise she was speaking until she heard that voice that came from her. It was her voice, sure, and yet it was not. It wasn't "Yang Xiao Long - the party girl, future badass huntress and thrill-seeker's" - voice. Yet it came from her.

It made her wonder just who she was. Or, more accurately; who she had become… _What_ she had become.

"You… You're the one who ruined everything… You made everyone think I'm some kind of lunatic… like I might _kill_ them at _any_ second." She spat that last part out. "You made my own _team_ believe I'm insane - like I'm some kind of _Grimm_. You even made Bla-" She stopped herself from fully uttering that name. _'Calm down, Xiao Long. Being mad isn't always going to save you,'_ she thought, not for the first time. She took a deep breath and faced him. He still hadn't moved an inch, looking at her with that same, unreadable gaze. She clenched her jaw before continuing. "Everyone believes I hurt someone innocent." She narrowed her eyes. "Clearly, they're wrong. Which is why _you're_ going to confess everything. _You're_ going to make sure everyone knows the truth. _Everyone_ , you hear me!"

She raised her gauntlets, ready for a fight.

There was no doubt that it would go down that way.

She watched - with trained vigilant eyes - his every movement. She saw how his chest slightly expand with each inhale, and shrank with every exhale. How he would hold his stare for seconds on end before eventually blinking. She saw his arm muscles were flexed, showing that he was as ready for a fight as she was.

She saw him look around, almost casually, before returning his focus onto her.

"Don't you think it's a little too late for that?"

Unfazed by his attempt to distract her, she continued staring on. He frowned when he looked at her again; there was meant to a subtle hint in that line, one she clearly did not understand or catch. She just stayed still. He sighed and gestured outwards.

She held her gaze for another few seconds before relenting, doing what she was being told; looking around.

She saw… what she expected to see.

She saw what she had been seeing.

Chaos.

Though it seemed like things were clearing out a little - which lifted _some_ weight from her shoulders.

She looked back at him again.

He looked at her expectantly, but after a few moments, rolled his eyes.

"Look around. Do you really think they'll believe you?" She opened her mouth, but he wasn't quite done with his words yet. "They saw you breaking my leg, Blondie. It won't matter what you think you saw, or what you saw here." He gestured towards her fallen teachers. "No one will believe you. They'll think this was all you." Taking a chance to rub salt into the wound, he played up his words, over playing the helplessness in his voice and mannerisms. "Why would a poor, innocent, injured student like me harm two Huntsmen trying to help me out of this hell hole?"

"You're twisted," she spat at him - trying to ignore the thoughts of doubt, fear, and hopelessness invading her head, clouding her from her goal. Her chest hurt. It didn't ache, it didn't sting, it _numbed._

She tried her best to ignore the part of herself that told her he was right. 'Tried' being the key word there.

"And you've lost," he responded, being bold enough to take a step forward. She levelled her weapon at him, yet it didn't affect him. It was as though he knew she wouldn't actually hurt him. It was as though he knew she was too mentally distraught to do anything. "At this point, it won't matter whether or not you actually are guilty; everyone already _thinks_ you are. To them, you're nothing more than a punch crazy lunatic." Hitting every nail. He was hitting every nail just right. Only, the nail was aimed at her. "They will never let you live it down."

She practically growled, looking ready to draw back her fist and strike him. "Go ahead," Mercury goaded the moment he saw that glint in her eye, "do it. Prove me right."

Yang wanted to shoot him, for real this time, she wanted to let her pent up anger out... but she didn't.

Instead, she was frozen in her tracks.

Instead, she was trapped in her thoughts.

Images of the people she held dear faded into her head, one by one.

The image of a prissy little princess came first. She was an icy heiress who thought she knew better than anyone and that many things were stupid.

Yet she was also loyal, and thoughtful in her own cute way, and cared for others more than she let others thought.

She was tough as ice to melt. But Yang, along with her other teammates, slowly saw that wall of indifference and mistrust melting, and wow… once they got to know the so called "ice queen", they also got to see the side of her that was a snowflake.

Then, came the image of someone that was very dear to her. A brunette with so much clumsiness and self-consciousness and love for all things sweet. Someone who could be so weird in her ways, and be unbelievably naive to the grim world.

Yet she was also Yang's little sister. The girl she raised because no one else could. The girl who grew up to be a prodigy, a team leader, and, above all, a good person.

Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee…

They'd defended her. They'd believed her. They'd-

 _"Do you really think they'll believe you?"_

They'd defended her… in front of her.

They'd believed her… in front of her.

They'd…

They'd acted…

They'd acted like they believed her…

 _"It won't matter what you think you saw."_

And Blake…

She didn't even try to hide it.

Blake didn't believe her.

 ** _"No one will believe you."_**

 _'No one will believe me.'_

"No one believes in me," she mumbled out.

All the while, Mercury backed away from her. He took his time with each step, as though he knew he wasn't in any real danger.

He was right.

"You can't prove anything, Blondie," he said, still retreating slowly. "You don't even know what I did. You don't know how I did it. You don't _know_ what actually happened." A chuckle. "You know nothing, Blondie. How are you gonna prove that you're no monster?"

He was right.

His words; they were all… correct.

There was this numbness inside her… and it compelled her not to move. It compelled her to just… give in… to just… just get this over with.

Mercury escaped.

She doubted no one saw him attacking the teachers and standing up with his two fine legs. No one saw because they were all caught up in their own problems, trying to subdue all this mayhem… the mayhem she'd caused...

No one knew.

Everyone thought she was a monster…

So what was the point of fighting anymore?

What was the point of anything anymore?

It was suddenly… hard… to see a purpose.

To find that beacon of light in this void of pitch black.

Everyone thought she was a monster.

And suddenly, it was hard to envision herself as anything other than a monster.

Tears welled up in her eyes; once a brilliant warm amethyst in colour, now a cold faded purple.

Everyone thought she was a monster.

 _Everyone._

She retracted her weapons back into their bracelet form and dragged her feet along the ground, trudging away with an end goal in mind, but no real motivation to get there in any hurry.

Her mind saw Ruby and Weiss. Yet, instead of seeing their smile of acceptance or their trust in her… What she saw were faces of horror… Faces of disgust… Faces of fear…

And it was all directed at her.

Her mind saw Blake…

If Blake didn't already hate her… then what she was about to do would definitely do just that...

 _'Heh, looks like you're right, Kitten. Someone very dear to you did change.'_

Thousands of emotions washed over her; none were something resembling happiness.

And all she could think of as she approached General Ironwood was:

 _'Monsters deserved to be locked up, right?'_

* * *

 **FeugoFox42**

Hey, Clem? Do you think anyone will get the reference we made in the title?

* * *

 **Clementine Davidson**

 **Hmm… I don't know, Fox. I mean, it _is_ based on a _recent_ movie that hit box office and is considered one of the best movies of the year. It's also about a person who is considered a terrorist by _everyone_ despite not being one who _also_ has _a dead mother…_ **

**Maybe we should give our readers more time? Who knows, maybe everyone who reads our story are just… uncultured swines… ;)**

 **I mean, who knows?**

* * *

 **FeugoFox42**

See you in the final part of the prologue!

And don't say that about them. I'm sorry, she does that every now and again.

As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated.

* * *

 **Clementine Davidson**

 **Buckle up, Fangirls and Fanboys… and everyone in-between.**

 **The next chapter will finally have Bumblebee reuniting…**

 **But, let me just say this now; it won't be a _good_ reunion. So don't get your hopes up… On second thought, _do_ get your hopes up. I want you all to suffer.**

 **Thanks a lot for reading our story, hope you have a nice day, and goodbye~!**


	4. Prologue - Part IV: Blake

NOTIMETOPREPAREYOURSELFTHESTORYSTARTSNOW!

* * *

"Really? Nothing at all?"

"Nothing," Blake groaned. "None of our teachers have seen her, none of the students, no one."

"Oh, this is ridiculous." Weiss grumbled, pacing in front of her team in frustration.

"I don't understand," an exasperated Ruby added, letting her head fall into her hands, "she'd normally be in the gym or the cafeteria on her own, or she'd head into Vale."

"Did yo-"

"No, I didn't check Vale for Yang, Weiss. I'm not _that_ fast. Jeez." The Heiress huffed, and Blake couldn't tell if that was because she didn't like the fact she was being sassed back to, or she was going to scoff and tell Ruby that she could have done it if she'd put her mind to it. Either or, and both just as likely. "But Yang's bike is still here, and she never goes into Vale without Bumblebee."

"It's true Weiss," Blake added, deliberately omitting the part where she had ridden into Vale once with Yang at ludicrous speeds just so the blonde could prove that Bumblebee was faster than a Bullhead over a distance like that.

Yang was, ultimately, right.

Yang also ignored every traffic law on the way into Vale.

' _Traffic laws are just a slippery slope to the big ones,_ ' Blake's inner voice reminded her, ' _maybe that should have been a sign that things were going to crash and burn like they did._ '

Remembering one of the things she spotted on her search, no thanks to the niggling inner voice that wouldn't go away, the onyx haired girl mentioned to her teammate something else. "There were a few crashed Bullheads just outside the school grounds, but they were all inbound, if the way the debris was flung is anything to go by, so she couldn't have been on those."

The Heiress rubbed her head, trying to think of something, _anything,_ that would give them an idea of where Yang would be. It had been a good 40 minutes since they split up, but they had all come up empty handed. "Let's try again. She can't have gotten far."

"Weiss, it's been nearly three hours. She could have gotten pretty far if she wanted to."

"I am aware of that, Blake," Weiss snapped back. "I am also trying to think positively about this so that we don't dig ourselves into a hole and make things worse by drawing another horde of Grimm our way and dragging this search out even longer."

"Well, maybe we should spend less tim-"

"Guys, please don't fight," Ruby whimpered, like a small child caught in the crossfire between two parents squabbling. "Finding Yang is our priority. We lose her, we lose Team RWBY."

"You're right Ruby," Weiss admitted with a sigh, easing the reins back and calming down before it escalated even further. Blake simply nodded. She couldn't bring herself to do more than that. Ruby's attitude always affected the rest of the team, it was just so infectious. Even when she felt bad, it affected everyone.

"Great! So, we'll split up again, but this time, we'll search a section of the campus each, and then we're going to all head back to the dorm. If we can't find her on our patrols this time, we rest and continue tomorrow."

"Sounds… great."

"Oh come on, Belladonna," Weiss chastised, busting out the surname to prove how serious she was being, "she's your partner…"

' _Gee, thanks for reminding me Weiss,_ ' she thought, noticing the word used and seeing the slight upturn of the Heiress' lips knowing full well why she said that word.

"…you can't just _give up_ on her."

"Yeah Blake. Besides, you're like our team ninja. And ninjas are amazing at tracking stuff."

' _Not true, Ruby,_ ' came the cynical voice inside Blake's head.

"So… your next target is Yang Xiao Long." Again, her heart ached every time someone mentioned the blonde by name. "Go get her, Team RWB_! Banzai!" Blake continued to look ashamed, whilst Weiss stood cross armed facing Ruby, never having partaken in one of Ruby's 'Banzai!' cries and certainly not starting now. "Oh Gods, it's started! Quick Weiss," she cried, grabbing the girl's wrist, "we've gotta get Yang back, else my energy won't be matched and I'll explode from too much energy!"

Blake was pretty sure she heard Weiss try to tell their energetic leader that "less sugar in her coffee and a cutback on her cookie consumption would help a lot," before she disappeared in a flash and a scream that was cut eerily short from how fast they were travelling away from her.

"Might as well…"

' _Yes, because wandering around alone has_ _ **always**_ _worked out fine for us._ ' Blake frowned at her internal voice and it's snarky remark.

"Shut up, we don't have a choice in the matter."

Taking the right hand path back towards Beacon, Blake kept her eye out for any signs of her partner. With the fighting all but done, there was no telltale screaming and hollering she could follow, nor the signature **kachunk!** sound Ember Celica made when it reloaded.

There'd be no partying, what with how everything had gone to pot once the Grimm arrived and people started panicking making more Grimm arrive. That said, when members of the general public started to realise that they were literally surrounded by men and women with weapons who combat these creatures for a living, their panic fairly promptly subsided and less Grimm were attracted to the school, the influx of Grimm petering off to near non-existence after about an hour or so. ' _Partying might not be out of the question then,_ ' she thought to herself.

Her search for Yang lead her to the airfield, hoping that the blonde hadn't left without telling anyone where she'd gone or how long she'd be gone for.

' _Hey there Kettle! Name's Pot, have we met?_ '

"Okay, you are not helping the situation here," she told herself.

' _And you are?_ '

Blake chose to ignore that comment, and continued onwards. The airfield was nearly barren; a few airships remained for last minute transport of Huntsmen and Huntresses out onto the battlefield far away from the Academy, but for the most part remained still and empty. No one was running onto or off of the landing areas, so it was still. To Blake, if she tuned out all the sounds around her - hard to do with her Faunus heritage, but wishful thinking nonetheless - it almost be described as a place where time had just stopped dead.

Blake only stopped walking when, behind one of the park Bullheads, she saw the instantly recognisable golden locks of her girlfriend. There were only the four of them there, the three Atlas soldiers standing square opposite the student in an intimidating line, but with how they were glaring down at her it felt to Blake like there were dozens of men opposing her. She couldn't imagine what it felt like to Yang. But before she could do anything and apologise for how she acted earlier that day, she heard the conversation going on between Yang, Ironwood and the men by her side.

"...that's what you want to hear, right?" she said, arms waving about wildly and voice raised in frustration and anger.

"Miss Xiao Long, please," the General pleaded. "Think of the ramifications of saying that out loud, particularly now when the world is already gunning against you."

"But it's what you want to hear, isn't it? It's why I'm here right now. 'I punched Mercury because he deserved it. Even after I had won, even though he was helpless. I nearly did it again! I'm just a criminal, a monster.' Reporters are going to have a field day when they… hear…" She spotted Blake too late, the shocked look on both girls' faces - one from seeing an hearing her partner confessing, the other fearing what she had heard - expressing what words couldn't at that moment.

It didn't take long for her to put the pieces together: Yang was turning herself in.

A wave of all kinds of emotions struck her, and she was too overwhelmed to differ one from the other. They told her to scream. They told her to cry. To fight her. To fight for her. To apologise. All different things cancelling each other out, leaving her at a standstill.

Blake did what she did best under those situations, against every instinct she'd fought to suppress over the last month.

She ran away.

"Blake!" Yang tried to run after her, even as one of the guards accompanying General Ironwood grabbed her arm to stop her. He was swiftly dissuaded from doing that again with a firm elbow to the gut, giving her enough of a lead to take off after Blake.

Her mind was a havoc; her heart even more so. She ran without a destination. She was aimless.

All this time, she had been thinking in the back of her mind, hoping and praying to whichever of the Gods would listen, that she was wrong. She didn't want to be right. Gods, she _so_ didn't want to be right. But Yang had said it herself; she was a criminal, a monster.

Just like Adam…

' _Told you so._ '

Blake was lighter and therefore naturally faster than Yang, but Yang had adrenaline on her side to keep her on her toes and firmly on her heels. "Blake, wait!" she called out after getting within normal earshot of the onyx haired beauty.

Seeing how Yang was reluctant to stop, Blake did eventually come to a halt. Heavy breathing aside, Yang still looked good considering everything she'd been through in the last few hours, even through the grime on her face and clothes.

To an outsider, at least. But Blake saw it…

She saw it in those purple eyes. They looked so different from they did only hours ago. Something was missing...

It was Yang. _She_ was what was missing, and Blake realised that with unfathomable horror and loss.

She simply wasn't all there anymore.

The life and love she'd felt before was gone, leaving only a husk - only remnants of what had been.

"Blake, let me explain," Yang huffed, her mind still playing catch up with her body.

"How could you do that, Yang?" Blake responded, feeling far less mentally disoriented after such an intense burst of running. "I thought you knew better than that."

"I _do_ know better, Blake! That's why I'm telling you, it actually happened." Yang tried closing the gap between them both, but the Faunus kept the spacing the same, stepping back an equal number of steps "I swear!" she tried, sounded as hurt as the slight look in her eyes told her she was at Blake remaining that distance away from her.

"That's not what everyone in the stadium, not what tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people saw on the cameras. They saw you attack him out of nowhere, completely unprovoked." Amber eyes locked onto amethyst, and with conviction, Blake told Yang the truth. "And I saw it too."

"But it felt really real, Blake. It _was_ real!"

Shooting down the response, the bookworm simple stated, "not to me it wasn't."

"Oh, come on Blakey! Do y-

"Don't call me 'Blakey'," she spat, ignoring the blood rushing through her ears. "Don't call me by the name you used to call me back then. Don't call me by the name I love, Yang Xiao Long. You don't _deserve_ that. Not after what you did to me - to all of us. Not anymore."

"'Back then'?" Confusion spread across Yang's face at the remark. "C'mon Blake, it was, like, a few hours ago. I haven't changed at all, really..." The blonde flashed her the Xiao-Long grin. "I'm still the same old me!" Blake crossed her arms, not buying it. Yang's smile was forced. Her easy-going attitude was forced. Blake saw through it all. "Well, can I call you 'Sweetie'?" she offered with a careless smile, her head leaning towards her in that way she'd always done whenever she expected Blake to respond to her puns and jokes with a witty comeback. The way she looked, talked, acted; it was all _so_ familiar. But Blake took one look at those hopeless eyes and her resolve steeled.

"No."

"Kitten?"

"Pushing it, Yang," she warned.

"…My Starlight?"

"Enough, Yang!" the Faunus snapped, frightening a small scream out of Yang. She was done with this. Done with _everything_. Even the most patient of people had their limits. And Blake never exactly prided herself with being patient. "Get to the point, or I walk away now."

With a defeated sigh, the blonde continued her previous train of thought. "Do you honestly think I'd make something like this up?" With a chuckle, she added that, "I'm not Nora."

"Yeah?" snapped Blake. "Well, at least with Nora, Ren's always there to correct her ramblings!" Momentarily, she was taken aback by her own words - by how venomous they were. But then she remembered something important; at this point, she didn't care anymore.

Yang wanted to say something back. Really, she did. But her _girlfriend_ just outright denied that she'd believe her based on the fact no one else saw what she did. That was ultimately the straw that broke the camel's back.

But there was no explosive anger, like there may have been before.

Yang quieted.

Blake looked at her.

She looked at the girl's face; there were dust, sweat, and what she hoped weren't blood and bruises. She looked so broken.

Blake… wanted to hug her. She wanted to comfort her the way she would have if not for everything that had happened.

There was a quiet voice at the back of her head who whispered. And, through all of this noise of destruction and hatred and fear… Blake heard it, clear as day.

' _Despite everything, I still love her.'_

And that was what compelled her to give Yang one last chance.

"Yang, tell me what's going on," her voice shook. "Please. I can't help you if you won't tell me. Just… just stop this, Yang. Stop this before it's too late. I… I still..." ' _I still love you, Yang,'_ she chose not to say, despite the way her heart ached for her to say it. "I still want to help you, Yang." Her voice was hoarse, breaking. Just like herself.

She looked at Yang. Yang didn't look at her. She looked down on the ground. As if she was ashamed of herself. As if she didn't want to ever see her again. It hurt Blake. It hurt her so much.

But she didn't give up on her. She _couldn't._

Her feet seemingly moved on their own. Her hands did too; they gently touched Yang's cheek, tilting it so she could see the face of the girl she'd fallen in love it…

Her heart broke at the sight of guilty lilac eyes.

"Yang… Please…" She couldn't say anything more than that.

Blake realised, as her heart slowly sank into a hole of despair, that the woman she loved might truly be gone.

But there was a stubborn part of her that still hoped that maybe everything would be alright, that maybe Yang would stop this madness, and that maybe, just maybe, there was still a future for them where they could still be together and happy…

So she watched. And waited.

Seconds felt like an eternity.

Two pairs of eyes stared at each other; one filled with thousands of emotions, the other filled with none whatsoever.

And suddenly it was as if everything except she and Yang was pitch black. As if the world didn't exist anymore.

Blake could only look at the face of someone she loved.

… A tear fell down. It wasn't her own.

Yang, for a single moment, broke. She looked at Blake as if she was everything to her. As if she was the only one that could save her. Yang smiled, and it was such a… sad smile. Blake wondered how it was possible for a smile to be _this_ sad. Blake could see it; the things Yang had never spoken before.

Blake's heart stopped when Yang broke eye contact to look down. She wanted to scream when Yang gently lowered her hand from her face. She wanted to cry when Yang looked at her with that same hopeless look on her face.

"... I'm sorry, Blake."

And the part of her that still had hope was buried. Deeply. Never to be seen again.

No tears fell. Not from her face, at least. Not even when the guards rounded on Yang again. Not when Yang allowed herself to be handcuffed; to be chained like a criminal.

She didn't move when her Yang was taken away from her.

Blake stood there even until she was gone.

She stood there.

She breathed, shallow and clipped as it may be.

She moved and trembled. Maybe it was out of exhaustion. Maybe out of shock.

She blinked every once in a while.

And yet... she didn't feel very alive.

"Blake! Oh thank the Gods, we were getting worried." Weiss. That was her. A part of Blake noticed that the surroundings weren't as wrecked as it was before. There was no more Grimm nor the White Fang in sight. There were only Huntsmen and civilians.

It made her wonder how long she'd been standing there.

"Blake?" a scared voice of a little sister asked. "Where's my big sister?"

And suddenly, Blake hated Yang.

She hated her because she was being burdened with the heaviest, most horrible task of all. Telling her precious team leader, telling her closest, dearest friend that…

"Yang… Yang's gone, Ruby."

* * *

 **FeugoFox42**

Bananas!

...What? Clementine didn't do it last time, I had to make up for it now.

I will apologise for the lack of an update last week - London Comic Con was last weekend (SO GOOD! Make Clementine jealous by telling her your Comic Con stories if you've been :P) and I was enjoying myself far too much to upload. Also, the Wi-Fi was crap in the hotel and it only had breakfast options. Maybe a bar for the evening, I never paid attention to that.

I will also apologise for this next nugget - **'Three Masters'** will go on a bit of a hiatus. I am aware it's only four chapters in, but _someone_ has to do exams and the like. They're more important that a side project story, so it'll take a backseat whilst that happens. I personally will continue with it for that duration, but nothing will go up until Clementine has corrected my mistakes and writed all my wrongs [yes, that was intentional]

Also, the prologue's done, I guess.

* * *

 **Clementine Davidson**

 **And now, the real fun is going to begin. I'm excited to hear your thoughts on the matter. I mean, for a prologue, I think we did** _ **more**_ **than just "good", but yeah, what do you guys think? I personally think it's really well-made.**

 **I can** _ **sort of**_ **see our writing styles shining in each and every scene. Fox did super well on the first part of the prologue, seeing as how he writes most (okay, all) of the chapter (back then, my role is still just a beta). And I'd like to think I did pretty great on the third part of the prologue.**

 **I wonder if you guys notice the way the writing sort of changes in its style. If you do, then… err… I hope it doesn't bother you?**

* * *

 **FeugoFox42**

Hopefully it doesn't. The amalgamation of both of our styles is what'll make this story stand out.

As always, feedback - good or bad - is most appreciated.

* * *

 **Clementine Davidson**

 **And to think we're just starting the story… hehehe.**

 **Have a nice day, everyone!**


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